SJC rules distributing small amounts of marijuana is a crime

But court does not define distribution

The state’s highest court ruled yesterday that suspects can be charged with intent to distribute marijuana even when caught trying to hand over less than an ounce of the drug, despite decriminalization of simple possession of small amounts.

The Supreme Judicial Court said a 2008 referendum that made possessing less than an ounce a civil infraction rather than a criminal offense had no influence on a separate law making it a crime to possess marijuana with intent to distribute.